By Stanley White TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan risks missing, yet again, an opportunity to use foreign investment to help fuel sustained economic growth that has eluded it for the last two decades. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to make Japan "the world's easiest country for companies to do business in" as part of his economic revival plan, which so far has been largely met with approval. The stock market has rallied 45 percent this year and Abe's approval ratings are around 70 percent. ...

By Marc Jones LONDON (Reuters) - Rising optimism about global growth pushed world shares to a near five-year high on Monday, while comments from Japan's economy minister that consumers could suffer if the yen falls further lifted it off a 4-1/2 low. Data last week that showed U.S. consumer sentiment at its strongest in nearly six years continued to support equity markets. MSCI's world index is at its highest since June 2008 as top European shares started the week up 0.2 percent. With risk appetite dominating, safe-haven German Bunds fell 45 ticks, while gold, also pressured by signs the U.S. ...

SOCHI, Russia (AP) — The mountains of Sochi are now home to Potanin's slope, Gazprom's gondola lift and Sberbank's ski jump. The nicknames used by locals and an army of construction workers leave no doubt about who is paying for the 2014 Winter Games: Russia's business powerhouses.

BEIJING (AP) — A businesswoman in southern China has been sentenced to death on charges of defrauding investors as the government tightens controls on informal financing that is widely used by entrepreneurs.

(Reuters) - New York's top financial regulator has sent subpoenas to several firms seeking information on investments that guarantee steady payments to hundreds of thousands of retirees and other consumers, the Wall Street Journal said on Monday, citing people familiar with the inquiry. The New York Department of Financial Services has sought information from Apollo Global Management, Guggenheim Partners and Harbinger Group Inc on investments that back so-called fixed annuities, the Journal said. ...

United Airlines is getting its 787s back in the air.

(Reuters) - Chesapeake Energy Corp has hired Robert Douglas Lawler of rival Anadarko Petroleum Corp as chief executive, filling the post vacated by co-founder Aubrey McClendon, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Chesapeake and Anadarko could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters outside of regular U.S. business hours. McClendon's departure on April 1 came after a tumultuous year in which a series of Reuters investigations led to civil and criminal probes of the second-largest U.S. natural gas producer. ...

BANGKOK (AP) — Evidence of a steady economic recovery in the U.S. helped push Asian stock markets higher Monday.

By Jason Lange and David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chances of a deal between Democratic and Republican lawmakers that would overhaul the tax system, trim government spending and reform safety net spending programs appear to be fading. A sudden improvement in the outlook for the government deficit over the next decade has alleviated some of the pressure on lawmakers to act. And a spate of scandals, involving the Internal Revenue Service, security for the U.S. ...

By Nichola Groom LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - In October 2004, then California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger rolled up to a pioneering fueling station at Los Angeles International Airport in a hydrogen-powered metallic blue Hummer loaned to him by General Motors Corp. The "California Hydrogen Highway," Schwarzenegger's vision to ensure that every Californian would have access to a hydrogen fueling station by the end of 2010, called for the state to spend more than $50 million to help deploy up to 100 hydrogen fuel stations that would serve 2,000 fuel cell vehicles. ...

By Ernest Scheyder WATFORD CITY, North Dakota (Reuters) - In towns across North Dakota, the wellhead of the North American energy boom, the locals have taken to quoting the adage: "Whiskey is for drinking, and water is for fighting." It's not that they lack water, like Texas and California. They are swimming in it, and it is free for the taking. Yet as the state's Bakken shale fields have grown, so has the fight over who has the right to tap into the multimillion-dollar market to supply water to the energy sector. North Dakota now accounts for over 10 percent of U.S. ...

(Reuters) - Steven A. Cohen has received a subpoena to testify before a grand jury in a U.S. government insider trading investigation into his hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors, the New York Times reported, citing lawyers and executives briefed on the case. Other SAC executives also received similar subpoenas and the fund itself has received requests for information about its activities, the lawyers and executives told the New York Times. Jonathan Gasthalter, a spokesman for SAC, declined to comment to the New York Times about the subpoenas. ...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — "Star Trek: Into Darkness" has warped its way to a $70.6 million domestic launch from Friday to Sunday, though it's not setting any light-speed records with a debut that's lower than the studio's expectations.

By Kristen Hays and Jonathan Leff HOUSTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - For the past three years, the boom in the U.S. shale oil industry has outstripped all expectations. Production surged far faster than any forecasts; drillers raced to secure space in new pipelines to get their crude to market. Now, at the periphery, that may be changing - at least for a while. News from two of the country's less developed shale plays in Colorado and Ohio last week offer a reality check for the wave of euphoria that has washed across the industry. ...

CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — The average U.S. price of a gallon of gasoline has jumped 11 cents over the past two weeks.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sunbathers headed to the beach this summer will find new sunscreen labels on store shelves that are designed to make the products more effective and easier to use. But despite those long-awaited changes, many sunscreens continue to carry SPF ratings that some experts consider misleading and potentially dangerous, according to a consumer watchdog group.

NEW YORK (AP) — Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of the country's biggest bank, faces a key test this week: His shareholders are voting on whether to let him keep both jobs.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc's board has approved a deal to buy blogging and social networking site Tumblr for $1.1 billion in cash, the Wall Street Journal cited people familiar with the matter as saying on Sunday. Such an acquisition would be Marissa Mayer's largest deal since taking the helm of the once-iconic Internet company in July 2012. Yahoo is keen on fast-growing Tumblr because its younger user base would bolster the older website's "cool factor," the technology blog AllThingsD cited the sources as saying. ...

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexicans often feel that billionaire Carlos Slim owns everything in their country, from telephone and Internet companies to banks and chain stores, but his latest acquisitive foray is meeting resistance after touching a national passion: soccer.

NEW YORK (AP) — Yahoo may be on the verge of closing its biggest acquisition during the 10-month reign of CEO Marissa Mayer as she tries to attract more traffic and advertisers to the Internet company's website and mobile applications.

Frank Lloyd Wright may have died in 1959, but his architecture is alive and well. A recent story in the Wall Street Journal revealed the cost to upkeep some of his historic homes may be more than buyers bargain for, but others clamor to invest in history.        

The judge presiding over the lawsuit against Martha Stewart and J.C. Penney ruled on Friday allowing the sale of Martha Stewart merchandise in J.C. Penney stores.        

An elderly couple in Brooklyn, N.Y., found a huge pile of cash–what they reckon was $100,000–in cash in a bank’s safe deposit box. Joe Valinoti, 82, and his companion, Kathleen Ricigliano, 81, said they opened a safe deposit box account with Sovereign Bank in February....        

Three men were indicted this week for shipping millions of packs of untaxed contraband Marlboro cigarettes that were part of a sting conducted by the FBI. Jia Yongming, Yazhou Wu, and Ricky Le were indicted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Monday in a U.S....        

Three men were indicted this week for shipping millions of packs of untaxed contraband Marlboro cigarettes that were part of a sting conducted by the FBI. Jia Yongming, Yazhou Wu, and Ricky Le were indicted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Monday in a U.S....        

A rare psalm book from 1640 could fetch between $15 million to $30 million at a Sotheby’s auction on Nov. 26 in New York. “It’s going to be far and away the most expensive book ever sold,” David Redden, vice chairman of Sotheby’s auction house,...        

A rare psalm book from 1640 could fetch between $15 million to $30 million at a Sotheby’s auction on Nov. 26 in New York. “It’s going to be far and away the most expensive book ever sold,” David Redden, vice chairman of Sotheby’s auction house,...        

McDonald’s has apologized for a Big Mac ad that enflamed the fast food giant in a whopper-sized controversy. The ad, a poster placed on Boston mass transit, featured a photo of a seemingly despondent woman with her head buried in her hands next to the...        

Retail sales fell by 0.4 percent in March, according to the Commerce Department, the biggest drop in nine months. The major stock market indexes slid on the news. Taxes went up at the beginning of the year for everyone who gets a paycheck and that...        

A former home of rock legend Stevie Nicks and silent-movie star Vilma Banky is on sale for $1.625 million. The 4-bedroom home in the Hollywood Hills has a guest apartment, sunset views and spans 3,538-square feet. Nicks purchased the property in the late '70s and recorded numerous demos there, according to Curbed. Banky reportedly lived there after it was built in the late '20s. The home was last purchased in December 2000 for $1.15 million.